Whether flying a piston-powered personal craft or a multi-engine commercial jet, pilots are taught the same general priorities in emergency situations: aviate, navigate, and communicate—in that order. The pilot's first duty is self-evident: to fly the aircraft. To successfully do so requires the continual processing of a vast amount of data received via any number of different sources. During flight operations a pilot may be confronted with the loss of an engine on takeoff. In such a situation the pilot must immediately decide the safest option for the particular altitude and set of flight conditions, e.g., whether to: (a) turn approximately 180° and make a tail-wind landing; (b) turn at least 270° and re-land; (c) crash straight ahead; or (d) limp or glide to another nearby airport. Altitude, position, aircraft performance, terrain, atmospheric and weather conditions, and pilot capability dictate the safest option. A pilot's options increase with altitude, performance, and the availability of landing sites (each providing different services). The pilot's options are inversely proportional to the severity of the emergency.
Autopilot, automated navigation and GPS systems have significantly increased the information available to pilots. More information, however, means more potential calculations for the pilot to make, more options to consider, and more information to filter. Other than destination, most of this information is dynamic, for example, position (including attitude), traffic, and weather (including wind speed and direction—both vary by altitude and heading). The pilot must balance the ongoing assessment of this continual stream of data (information) while aviating, navigating, and communicating. Unexpected conditions must be assessed and acted upon decisively and correctly. Depending on criticality, options narrow as time passes. Once a decision is made, the die is substantially cast.
These informational processing factors are complicated when conditions are less than ideal. Available information may not be complete or accurate. For example, a pilot climbing after takeoff over unfamiliar terrain experiencing an emergency is likely 1) aware that the airport runway lies only a few miles behind, and 2) aware of the vague location of additional airfields nearby in possibly deteriorating weather. In this example the pilot may not be aware, however, that an open field (or road or the like) a few miles distant would be a better emergency landing site, in that it would be more likely to be reached with altitude and time to execute a stabilized approach.
An emergency complicates these factors, and the corresponding pressure on the pilot, even further. The means of propulsion or other onboard systems may fail, making a safe landing simultaneously more urgent and more difficult to execute. A structural failure, cabin depressurization, or onboard medical emergency may occur, requiring the pilot to rapidly divert from the initial flight plan and find an alternative landing site (ALS). Emergency conditions add yet another degree of difficulty to the already complex responsibilities of piloting.
Therefore, a need exists for a system and method to aid the pilot of a distressed aircraft, thereby reducing pilot workload, the number of decisions based on inaccurate data, and the potential loss of life and property.